European Directive

Accessibility

Accessibility guidelines

Help for the partially sighted

The Internet and how to use it. This is a link to the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) web site, and an article on the Internet and how to access it.

Your computer supports a number of methods for altering the display of this website on your screen and to help you navigate
the web-pages using the keyboard. These are explained further in the following sections

Using access keys

The tScheme web site features “access keys”. These are
shortcuts which allow you to get to certain parts of a web site quickly.
They help you if you have difficulties using a mouse or prefer to use shortcuts.

On the tScheme web site we have used the UK access key standard on the most commonly used
links and help features as listed below:

Sub menu on RHS
use 31,32,33,34,35, 36 & 37 depending on number of levels

Apple Mac, Netscape 6+:

Apple Mac, Netscape, earlier versions:

Setting the screen resolution

Screen resolution, measured in pixels, refers to the resolution of the computer
monitor. The screen area setting is an important factor in how much information
your monitor can display. A common setting is 800 by 600 pixels. By increasing
the number of pixels your monitor displays, you can view more on your screen
regardless of its actual dimension.

The tScheme site has been designed to work well on a screen resolution
of 800 by 600 pixels. This means you should not have to scroll from side
to side, but you may have to scroll down or up depending on the length of
a page.

Instructions for Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP

If you are using Windows XP, select Switch to Classic View in
the left hand pane

Open the Display section by either double-clicking on the Display icon
or by highlighting the icon and pressing the Return/Enter key

Select the Settings tab

Move the screen area slider to the right until it reads 1024 by
768 or larger. If this resolution is not available on the computer you
are using, choose 800 by 600. [Note that you will need to scroll more on
web pages when using this lower resolution]

Select OK to save changes

After the screen resizes, select OK button again to confirm the
new screen size

Or

Minimize all open windows

Right click anywhere on the desktop as long as it is not on an icon

Select Properties from the pop-up menu

From the window that appears select the Settings tab

Move the screen area slider to the right until it reads 1024 by
768 or larger. If this resolution is not available on the computer you
are using, choose 800 by 600. [Note that you will need to scroll more on
web pages when using this lower resolution]

Select OK to save changes

After the screen resizes, select OK button again to confirm the
new screen size

Instructions for Apple Mac OS X

Exit all applications and choose System Preferences from the Apple
menu

Select the Displays icon

Under the Resolution option, select the 800 by 600 setting, or
the closest one to that

Close the Monitors window [Note: Some Apple Mac monitors will
NOT allow a setting above 640 by 480]

Changing colours, fonts and text size in your browser

You can change features on your browser and control the way in which web
pages appear. This is particularly useful if you have low vision, need larger
fonts, or need high-contrast or different colours from the ones set. Using
options available in your browser, you can change:

the size, style and colour of fonts

the background colours of web pages

the colour used to indicate hyperlinks, active web links and visited web links

How you do this depends on what browser you use. Below are the steps for
making these features change in Internet Explorer and Netscape.

Changing the colour scheme for Windows or Apple Mac-OS

Windows

If you are using Windows XP, select Switch to Classic View in the left panel

Open the Display section either by double left clicking on the
icon, or by highlighting the icon and pressing the Return/Enter key

Select Appearance tab to see the options available in this section

Then either

Select the arrow in the Colour scheme box to display the colour
scheme options available

Scroll down the list to see each one previewed above and, when you find
one that is suitable, press Enter to select it. (Some of these colour
schemes have large font versions)

Or

Select the arrow in the Item box to display all the objects whose
colour you can change

Select the item that you want to change, then open up the colour options
by selecting the Colour button. (Selecting Other inside the
Colour box will give you the full range of colours available on the system)

Choose the colour you want for that item

Repeat this for every item whose colour you want to change, then select OK to
save you’re the changes to your system

Apple Mac OS 8.5, 9.x

The main way to change your Apple Mac's appearance is by using the Appearance
section within the Appearance control panel. It lets you choose a variation
colour for windows and a highlight colour for text. (The highlight colour
is the colour you see when you select text in a program or click on an icon
and press return/enter to rename it. The variation colour is as it says below
the pull-down menu, the colour that is used when you select an item in a
menu.)

Select Appearance Control Panel from the options along the top
of the window

To change the fonts on the system

Select Appearance Control Panel from the options along the top of the window

Select the Fonts tab

Select your options from the drop-down menus for Large system font, Small
system font and the Views font [Note: The Large System Font
is used in the title bar of windows, the menu bar and menus, and tabs.
The Small System Font is for "explanatory text and labels." The Views
Font is used for filenames.]

When you have made all the selections, select ‘Save theme’ to
save your changes.

Mouse settings

Windows

If you are using Windows XP, select Switch to Classic View in
the left pane

Open the Mouse section either by double left clicking on the icon,
or by highlighting the icon and pressing Enter/Return key

To change the click speed, and whether for right or left-handed use:

Select the Buttons tab

Select right- or left-handed

Select single or doubleclick for opening items

Move the slider along to choose the speed for double-clicking

Select Apply to save your changes

To change the visibility and size of the mouse ‘pointers’:

Select the Pointers tab

Choose the scheme of pointers from the drop-down menu (previewed in the
box to the right)

Select Apply to save your changes

To change the motion of the mouse:

Select the Motion tab

Move the slider along to choose the speed you want for the mouse

Select the acceleration that you prefer

Select Apply to save your changes.

Apple Mac OS

The Apple Mac has various accessibility features which include: an adjustable
keyboard, an ergonomic mouse, Close View screen magnification software, display
adaptation, Easy Access system software (Sticky Keys, Slow Keys, Mouse Keys),
electronic documentation, key-repeat disable, text-to-speech synthesis and
voice recognition (Plain Talk), sticky mouse and visual alert cues. All of
these features are included as part of the Apple Mac's system software (system
7.x, 8.x and 9.x), details of which can be found at: http://www.apple.com/accessibility/